New Budget Gaming Build ~$350

[wombatwhomp]

Hello. First post. I've been out of the PC gaming scene for 10+ years, with my last real build being a box that had a Voodoo 3500 TV (was nice back then, lol!)
Anyway, I've decided to try to get back into PC gaming, and have a fairly limited budget.
So far I've decided on the following hardware:

MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) Motherboard ($49.99)
AMD Athlon II x4 640 3.0ghz Quad-core ($74.99)
Corsair XMS3 4gb DDR3 1333MHZ ($24.99)
Intel 330 180gb SSD ($119.99)

(MIR's on all this of about $70 usd)

(All are being shipped, but I could return any components I suppose - they aren't here yet.)

Components I already have:

Using a cheap case from a Compaq CQ5205Y, as well as the SATA DVD burner it came with. Cost me $10.
A Dynex 500W power supply I ripped out of a custom build I literally found in the trash, it seems to be completely functional - appears to be the same one that is at bestbuy for $49.99 today - I know it's not great, but should be sufficient.

GPU:

Asus GTX 550 ti DC/DI/GDDR5 1GB ($104.97)

Except... I'm thinking about sending back the GPU for a slightly more expensive variety, like the 560 ti - but I might also need to purchase a more expensive PSU, as I have little faith in a Dynex brand 500W PSU, but I do I have faith it will be enough for the 550 TI and what little components I have in this build.

I plan on using this box only for gaming, as I use my laptop for everything else, and is suiting my needs for light graphics design and Ableton live. However, I have a feeling I'll start wanting to use this new desktop instead - we'll see.

My max resolution will be 1360x768 @ 60hz as this is the resolution of my 37" LCD TV, and I don't expect to be upgrading that anytime soon. For the sake of this post, and for it's high requirements, let's just say I'm going to be playing Battlefield 3, even though I'll probably be playing completely different games. I'd like to never drop below 30fps, and closer to 60fps would probably be better for me - I think.

So, all that said, should I send back the 550 ti when it arrives before opening it and consider a different option, or should I try it and possibly pay a 15% restock fee to send back If I'm not impressed with the results? What about the other components I've picked out? Please keep in mind that after MIR's, I have no more than $330 invested in this box at this point including the GPU. I'd like to keep it below $400 total, and I believe it's totally doable. Even if I had paid full price for all components, this would be still be a sub-$400 build including the case and PSU.

Any non-trolling feedback is appreciated.

 

[wombatwhomp]

So, I finished my 'budget' build, and used all of the components I stated in the original post, with the exception of the graphics card of course:

MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) Motherboard
AMD Athlon II x4 640 3.0ghz Quad-core
Corsair XMS3 4gb DDR3 1333MHZ
Intel 330 180gb SSD
The 'trash' dynex 500w power supply
And... I went with the Gigabyte GTX 660 OC for my GPU.

I overclocked the x4 640 to 3.465GHz and was able to unlock the L3 6MByte cache by turning on Advanced Clock Calibration. This brought my passmark performance test CPU rating from 3490 to 4560, quite a bump in performance as far as benchmark numbers go.

Windows boots in roughly 7 to 8 seconds thanks to the SSD. Impressive.

At 1360x768 (720p), I get a solid 90 FPS in Battlefield 3 with everything on ultra, including anti-aliasing and anisotropic at 16x. In fact, it usually hovers around 95 or 100, sometimes going all the way up to 120 but never dips below 60 FPS.

I was so impressed with the results that I had to go plug it up to a friends 40 inch 1080p 120hz LCD to see what I could do at 1920x1080.

At 1920x1080, with everything still set to ultra, I get a solid 60 FPS sometimes going all the way up to 90 FPS, but never dipping below 45 FPS. It's smooth as butter and looks absolutely incredible.

I also tried the game 'Dishonored' at 1920x1080 with everything maxed out. It caps off at 60 FPS (I guess it has a vsync option that you can't turn off? idk.) However, it never dips below 60 FPS at all, it just stays solid and it's absolutely incredible as far as eye candy goes. I've only played about an hour into this game but it looks like a really great game aside from just the eye candy, I'd recommend giving it a shot if you get a chance.

My next upgrade is going to have to be a 1080p display - however, I'm not sure whether to go for a couple decent sized monitors or if I should just get another TV. I'm also not sure whether to go LCD or LED...

Overall, I'm incredibly happy with my choices as far as hardware goes. I think I really hit the sweet spot for price vs performance.

 

[wombatwhomp]

Best answer selected by wombatwhomp.